State Sen. Eric Giddens, right, shakes the hand of a constituent in Dysart on Aug. 29 while knocking doors in the community. Following redistricting, Sen. Giddens’ district changed from District 30 to District 38 – expanding from a mostly urban district wholly in Black Hawk County to an urban-rural district that now also includes parts of Tama and Benton counties. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

DYSART – State Senator Eric Giddens is exploring new territory.

Following the 2020 Census and resulting redistricting process, some voters suddenly found themselves represented by legislators who had never before appeared on their ballots as precincts and districts were redrawn. For those living (and voting) in Clark, Perry, Geneseo, and Buckingham townships, their current representative in the Iowa Senate – Sen. Eric Giddens – is one such legislator.

“I didn’t know what to expect. The way that process works – it’s like a surprise to everybody,” Giddens, a Democrat, said of the redistricting process which took place in the fall of 2021. “You don’t have any idea what the maps are going to look like when they come out.”

Giddens made his comments to the Telegraph on a beautiful, sunny afternoon in late August as he stood in Dysart City Park. While the local youth football league took to the field nearby, Giddens prepared to set out across the southeastern quadrant of town to knock doors as part of an ongoing effort to introduce himself to his Tama County constituents – constituents who previously were represented by Sen. Jeff Edler, a Republican.

“So, I was open to anything [following redistricting]. Maybe part of me imagined it wouldn’t have expanded this far? … But I believe in the process. We have a good, nonpartisan redistricting process in the state. I respect and admire the people who draw the maps. They follow the law and they do it in a nonpartisan way without regard to where legislators live.”

Sen. Eric Giddens places a 'Sorry I missed you' business card inside a constituent's storm door in Dysart while knocking doors in the community in late August 2023. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Prior to redistricting, Giddens represented Senate District 30 which was a mostly urban district centered around Cedar Falls – where he lives – as well as southwestern Waterloo, the city of Hudson, and the Black Hawk County townships of Lincoln and Black Hawk.

Before the maps were redrawn, the quiet, but exceedingly friendly state senator — who still retains a hint of his native Georgia accent — had only occupied his seat since 2019 after winning a special election in 2018.

He then went on to win the general election in 2020 before his district flipped practically inside out. Today, the new Senate District 38 is a very rural district.

“I kind of like having a mix of urban and rural,” Giddens said. “I’m the kind of guy who enjoys talking to anybody – to any type of person. This actually kind of adds some diversity, in a way, to my district that I didn’t have before, that I’ve enjoyed.”

While Giddens grew up in Georgia in a town of about 9,000 people, he said smaller, rural communities like Dysart and Traer and Hudson are not wholly unfamiliar to him being from a state where the majority of counties are rural. (Telegraph note: 120 out of Georgia’s 159 counties are considered rural, according to the Rural Partners Network.)

State Sen. Eric Giddens, a Democrat who represents District 38, displaying two versions of his business cards while knocking doors in Dysart recently. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

But as the senator from District 38, Giddens represents what could be viewed as an endangered species in Iowa these days – a rural Democratic legislator. Both legislative chambers in Iowa are controlled by the GOP, and in the Senate just 16 of its 50 members caucus with Democrats.

Of those 16 Democratic senators, not one hails from a small town.

“The state has become divided by rural and urban areas, really, politically,” Giddens replied when asked about his unique position. “Before the redistricting process, I was basically an urban legislator all in Black Hawk County … Now, because of redistricting I gained this rural part.”

When pressed, Giddens said he still believes the two-party system is important, despite how little power his own party holds these days in Iowa.

“Some of my colleagues who have been here for a long time, actually say that when we had more balance [politically in the legislature] … in a lot of ways, that’s when things worked the best because everybody’s ideas mattered, and negotiation and compromise had to happen.”

Eric Giddens, a state senator from Cedar Falls, pauses to check his canvassing map on his phone while knocking doors in the northern Tama Co. community of Dysart on Aug. 29, 2023. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“Everybody was important.”

Giddens said rebuilding the Democratic party in Iowa still remains an important issue to him.

“Yes, it’s important for us to do what we can as a party, as Democrats, to rebuild. And I think, hopefully, to get back to a point where we have a little bit more balance so that everybody’s positions are important in the process.”

To that end, Giddens has spent a lot of time knocking on constituents’ doors in northern Tama County since the 90th General Assembly recessed last spring. But he doesn’t limit whose doors he knocks on – far from it.

“I’m talking to everybody. I’m talking to people that are Independent – or no party. Democrat and Republican. I’m just out visiting as a state senator. Introducing myself.”

When asked what people in Tama County have brought to his attention as he walks from door to door, he said two main issues have percolated – the Students First Act/school voucher bill, and wind and solar energy.

The Students First Act was signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Jan. 24 of this year. The legislation made state education funding available to K-12 students who attend private schools.

“There’s concerns about that. I’ve talked to folks that either work for [the local school] – or have kids … I mean most everybody does have a close connection to their community school in these towns. And folks that are really tuned into that issue are concerned. They don’t see how it really, necessarily helps.”

In terms of wind and solar, Giddens said he has noticed a unifying thread among those he speaks to about renewable energy.

“It seems to be mostly, really about landowner rights,” Giddens said. “I think that’s something that we’re gonna continue to kind of grapple with across the state. … It could be transmission lines, it could be CO2 pipelines. The root issue, I believe, is landowner rights.”

On the doors

Later that evening as Giddens knocked doors in Dysart, most people who answered appeared rather interested in learning who this unfamiliar, lanky man in glasses standing on their welcome mat was.

Giddens said it’s been that way everywhere he’s knocked in Tama County.

“There’s been a few people who are aware of me. But everyone has been genuinely nice.”

Giddens said he’s had about a 30% contact rate this summer while canvassing in Tama County. At each house he stops at, he hands out his business card – or tucks one into the door if no one answers.

At Lu Ann Ohde’s Dysart home on Aug. 29, Giddens introduced himself much as he has been doing all summer.

“Hi, how are you? I’m Eric Giddens, I’m your state senator – can I give you my business card?” Giddens asked an initially tentative Ohde as he handed her his card. “I live in Cedar Falls, and after the 2020 census, all of our districts got redrawn and Dysart became a part of my senate district. So this is new territory for me now. And so I’m just out introducing myself.”

After spending about 10 minutes on Ohde’s front porch where they spoke on a variety of issues, Giddens shook her hand and took his leave. Ohde smiled and waved goodbye as he disappeared back onto the sidewalk behind the burning bushes surrounding her home.

While walking off down Tilford Street, the senator seemed undaunted by the challenge ahead come November of 2024 – winning a remade district where very few know his name, and where fewer and fewer folks these days seem to check the box for a Democrat.

Ahead of the election, Giddens will certainly stay busy — he has another session of the General Assembly coming up in January, and many more doors to knock before next November.

“I’m going to do all I can to stay in this seat,” he said.